Cigarette or cigar lighter



Oct. 2, 1945. T, H, PATTBERG 2,386,168

CIGARETTE OR CIGAR LIGHTER Filed Feb. 21, 1945 INVENTOIL THMTTBERG W2 i SZ Q m/ ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 2, 1945 UNITED STATES PATENT* OFFICE CIGARETTE R CIGAR LIGHTER Theodore H. Pattberg, Woodhaven, N. Y. Application February 21, 1945, Serial No. 579,085

(Cl. 21S- 32) 1 Claim.

'I'his invention relates to cigarette and cigar lighters, and aims to provide a novel, practical useful and inexpensive portable lighter unit particularly adapted for household or home use and embodying a step-down transformer to transform the standard line voltage to a low voltage.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a novel duplex switch for closing the secondary transformer circuit through the lighter element and the primary transformer circuit independently, and of course opening the said circuits in the same manner.

A still further object is the provision of a duplex switch actuated by pushing the lighter element housing into the socket provided therefor, whereby the secondary or low-voltage circuit is closed first and the primary or high-voltage circuit is closed second, and vice versa. upon withdrawal of the said housing, thereby providing a safety feature so that if anybody, particularly a child or infant, should insert a iinger into the said socket no current will flow as the primary circuit remains open. I

'I'he above and other objects will become apparent in the description below, wherein characters of reference refer to like-numbered parts in the accompanying drawing. It is to be noted that the drawing is intended for the purpose of illustration only, and that it is neither intended -nor desired to limit the invention in any manner to the specic details of construction shown excepting insofar as they may be deemed essential to the invention.

Referring briefly to the drawing, Fig.`1 is a perspective view of a representative type of a separable lighter unit per se.

Fig. 2 is a central cross-sectional elevational view through the housing containing the transformer and switch actuable by insertion of the lighter unit of Fig. l into the socket provided in the said housing.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of Fig. 2, clarifying the structure and functioning .of the switch actuating mechanism.

Fig. 4 is a wiring diagram.

Referring in detail to the drawing, the numeral I0 indicates the base of the device and Il the housing or shell mounted thereon and provided with a socket opening i2. The device may be portable and adapted to be set upon any plane surface of an article of furniture, such as a table, or, if desired, the base I0 may be secured against a wall to nx the device in position. A step-down transformer i3 having a 12o-volt primary and a, 6-volt secondary, or the insulating washers 24 are mounted on each side of the bottom 23 with a screw 25 passing therethrough and having its head inside the cup' 22 with a walled washer or the like 28 clamped between the said screw head and the upper insulating washer 24.

A coiled spring 21 of rather heavy construction stands upright and has its base secured in the washer 26. A pan 28 is mounted upon the upper end of the spring 21 in horizontal position and is provided with a central boss or button 29.

'I'he lighter unit 30 has a heating element"3| fwound in the form of a plane spiral in accordance with standard construction, one end of said spiral being connected to a central button or lboss 32 and the other or outer end being Aconnected to the peripheral ring 33 in electrical contact with the band 34. An insulating washer or disc '35 is mounted inward of the spiral element.3|.

A lever 36 is pivotally mounted at 31 on the bracket arm 2i and is formed of two members or layers 38 which are spread apart for a distance intermediate the length of the lever to pass the sides of the cup 22. Gpposed openings 39 are formed in the cup 22 through which the ends of opposed tongues 40 formed on the members 38 of the lever 35 project into the cup. It is now apparent; that upon insertion of the member 30 into the cup, its button 32 will contact with the button 29 but at the same instant, or just before or after the said contact is made, the band 34 of the member 30 will contact the lever tongues 40 and be stopped thereby unless greater force is applied on the member 30 as will be hereinafter set forth.

A bracket 4| slidably supports a pin 42 in vertical position, and the upper end of this pin is engaged in the end 43 of the lever 35. A coiled spring 44 surrounds the pin between the lever end 43 and the bracket 4l and has its upper end 45 anchored to the pin, thus normally urging the said pin upward. A contact head 46 is provided on the lower end of the pin, and therebeneath are a pair of spaced spring contacts I1 supported on the bracket Il by an arm or the like 48 of insulating material.

If desired, a signal lamp socket 4I may be provided, mounted on a bracket ll. to signal through an opening 6I in the shell ll that the device is functioning, as will laterhe described.

The primary lead I5 of the transformer is connected to one contact Il, and the other primary lead i4 goes through the plug lead Il. The other plug lead wire 52 is connected to the other contaci; 41. The secondary lead IB is connected to the screw 25 by a nut 53, and the other secondary lead l1 is grounded to the frame at 54. The shell of the lamp socket 49 is grounded on its bracket 50, and its button 55 is in contact with an arm 55 secured to the bracket Ee by insulating member 5l. A lead 68 joins the arm 5B tothe secondary lead' IB. Thus the lamp 59 is in parallel with the pan button 2S and ground.

Upon insertion of the member 30 into the cup` because of contact of the band St against the lever tongues 60, tilts the left-hand en ol of the lever downward against the spring ed. When the lever has been tilted sumciently the head di@ will bridge the contacts tl to close the pmarg circuit,

vrescates whencesecondarycurrentwillnowthroughboth the lighter element 8| and the lamp Il. As is usual, the lighter unit is held in the latter position for a suiiicient length oi time lor its elementl 3l to become red hot. Upon removal thereof, the primary circuit is opened nrst and then the oecondary circuit.

Obviously modifications in form and structure may be made without departing from the spirit or scope oi' the invention.

I claim:

In combination with a member having a hea ing element therein, a device including a housing having a socket-like cup and having a transvformer mounted therein, means for closing the circuit through the secondary of said transformer and said heating element upon insertion of said member into said cup a certain distance, means for closing the circuit through the primary of said transformer upon further insernon of said member an additional certain distance in said cup, said means for closing said primary circuit comprising a lever pivotally mounted at one end in said device and extending past said cup, said cup having an opening therethrough. said lever having a tongue projecting through said opening into said cup, the free end ci said lever having said primary circuit, seid tongue lying in the path so ot said member upon insertion ci said member into said cup. 

